In an earlier version of this gallery, I referred to the previous cel as “one of the last frames in this sequence.” Actually, there were 17 more gengas and 63 more cels to come. However, as these show the fluid body of The Fly becoming smaller and simpler in form, I suspect that the handler who prepared cels from this cut for sale may well have simply discarded most of them.

This is a shame, as the stubborn spirit does not go quiet into "the form it was wont to be." I’ve sampled three stages in its final surrender. Above is the A22 genga, showing it giving one final howl at the sky as its body now seems to sink into an angular whirlpool at the bottom.

In the thumbs are the A25, where the remaining power of the Card now is visibly streaming into the Card, though the bird’s head is still recognizable, and the A27, showing how the animators insisted in making this final process as fluid and as complex as possible.